GOLD & SILVER — Fairmont's Sawyer Tordsen (left) and Hank Artz stand atop the awards podium after Artz won the shot put and Tordsen placed second during Saturday's MSU track & field showcase at Myers Field House in Mankato. (Photo by Greg Abel)

MANKATO — First-year Fairmont head track & field coach Jesse Walters knows the importance of building team chemistry via a “family-like” environment.

The Artz family — Hank, Hadley and Harper — literally elevated Walters’ philosophy to another level in helping power the Cardinals to a total of nine individual top-10 showings and four more from a relays perspective during Saturday’s Minnesota State University’s Showcase in Mankato.

Hank Artz and teammate Sawyer Tordsen combined their strength and agility to power past the entire shot put field with a high-impact 1-2 showing, respectively, inside Myers Field House.

Nelson Remington contributed both a first- and second-place finish in the wheelchair competition for Fairmont, while Gavin Artner delivered a ninth-place time in the 3,200-meter run.

Nolan Schultze and Caleb Chambers each ran a leg on both of the Cardinals’ eighth-place 4×200 and 4×400 baton squads to help steer the boys team to a tie for 10th place with Robbinsdale Armstrong at 23 points in the 26-team elite invitational.

In the girls’ 26-team meet, Macy Hanson produced a runner-up showing in the 1,600-meter race, Hadley Artz hurdled her way to seventh place overall, Jazlyn Geerdes hopped, skipped and jumped to ninth in the triple, while Abbie Simpson pocketed 10th in the 800-meter run for Fairmont.

Corene Moeller anchored the Cardinals’ fifth-place 4×200 relay and seventh-place 4×400, with Harper Artz and Emelia Klanderud also running legs in both top-10 baton squads to help net a tie with Spirit Lake, Iowa, for 13th place at 16 points.

“Coach (Brad) Johnson did a nice job of getting our throwers ready for an elite indoor invitational that draws from three different states (Minnesota, Iowa and Wisconsin) regardless of school size,” said Walters. “I don’t know the official numbers, but I’d guess that not too many schools produced a 1-2 finish in any event today.

“For Hank and Sawyer to accomplish that in the shot put is awesome.”

Tordsen used his second of five throws to jump to the top of the leaderboard at a distance of 47 feet, 10 1/4 inches. Ironically, Hank Artz capitalized on his third heave to overtake Tordsen for the No. 1 spot at 48-8.

Artz extended his eventual gold-medal distance to 48-9 3/4 with his third throw, while Tordsen’s divot in the sand at 47-10 1/4 prevailed for the silver medal to cap the Cardinals’ sweep.

Remington outraced Winona’s Devin Filzen for first place in the 60-meter wheelchair race, 13.96-14.58, respectively, before the two switched places in the 200-meter wheelchair competition, 38.32-39.03.

After placing 17th in the mile run with a time of 4:52.56, Artner regained his stamina to run a ninth-place time of 10:55.25 in the 2-mile competition for Fairmont.

“I got boxed in during the 1,600 earlier today, so I didn’t run the time I wanted to, but it was nice to run against good competition,” said Artner.

Fresh off a 12th-place long jump of 18-1 3/4, Trey Tumbleson triggered the Cardinals’ 4×200 relay out of the leadoff spot. Tumbleson, Gage Borntrager, Chambers and Schultze traded handoffs for an eighth-place time of 1:39.12.

Schultze then moved to the leadoff spot before handing the baton to Chambers for the second leg to trigger Fairmont’s eighth-place 4×400 time of 3:45.17. Taylor Austin and Blaze Geiger closed out the last two legs of the relay.

In the girls’ competition, Hanson squared off against cross country rival Isabelle Schmitz of Hutchinson in the mile run. Schmitz and Hanson broke from the 1,600-meter pack after the initial 300 meters and never looked back except for when the Fairmont sophomore and Hutchinson junior lapped runners.

Schmitz struck gold in the mile run with a blistering time of 5:07.37, with Hanson capturing the silver medal in a personal-best prep time of 5:19.69.

“Running on a shorter indoor track, you have to be more aggressive and get out way faster than on an outdoor surface,” said Hanson.

“I like to pass on straight-aways, but that wasn’t the case today,” said Schmitz. “It was tight in the curves, but when you have to pass, you pass, no matter where you’re at on the track.”

Hadley Artz sprinted her way past the preliminary rounds of the 60-meter hurdles with a time of 10.42 before lowering that number during the finals. Artz generated a personal-best mark of 10.35 to earn a share of seventh place overall.

Geerdes nearly saved her best for last by spraying the sand in the triple jump pit at a distance of 32-5 during the fourth of her five attempts to garner ninth place in her field specialty for the Cardinals.

Abbie Simpson then rounded out Fairmont’s four individual top-10 showings in the girls’ meet by placing 10th in the 800-meter run in 2:35.78. Hutchinson’s Schmitz breezed to the gold medal in the half-mile race by breaking the tape in 2:21.59.

Simpson joined forces with Harper Artz, Emelia Klanderud and anchor Corene Moeller to claim seventh place in the 4×400 in 4:27.76.

The Cardinal quartet’s finish was impressive since a collision with another team during a mid-leg baton exchange slowed their bid for a top-three time.

Bella Larson, Harper Artz, Klanderud and Moeller earlier traded handoffs to nail down fifth place overall in the 4×200 — and first in their heat race — on the strength of a combined time of 1:54.55.

Fairmont is scheduled to open its outdoor season by playing host to New Ulm, St. Peter and United South Central at 4 p.m. today at Bob Bonk Track in Fairmont — weather permitting.

2023 MSU-Mankato Varsity

Track & Field Showcase

Girls Division (15 Events)

Final Standings (26 teams): 1. Stillwater Area 70; 2. Roseville Area 56.5; 3. Spencer 54; 4. Byron 49.5; 5. Minneapolis Washburn 37; 6. Onalaska 34; 7. Mankato West 30; 8. Grand Meadow/Leroy-Ostander/Kingsland 28; 9. Webster 26; 10. Winona 20.5; T13. Fairmont and Spirit Lake 16s.

Individual Champion &

Fairmont Results

60-Meter Hurdles: 1. Jerra Merchant (Spencer) 9.2; 7. Hadley Artz (Fairmont)10.35.

Preliminaries: Hadley Artz 10.42; Cadence Leiding (Fairmont) 10.82.

1,600: 1. Isabelle Schmitz (Hutchinson) 5:07.37; 2. Macy Hanson (Fairmont) 5:19.69.

4×200: 1. Roseville Area 1:48.72; 5. Fairmont (Bella Larson, Harper Artz, Emelia Klanderud, Corene Moeller) 1:54.55.

800: 1. Isabelle Schmitz (Hutchinson) 2:21.59; 10. Abbie Simpson (Fairmont) 2:35.78; 22. Ellie Ortega (Fairmont) 2:41.4; 29. Carys Gudahl (Fairmont) 2:48.45.

200: 1. Ruby Marble (Mankato West) 26.57; 16. Corene Moeller (Fairmont) 28.03; 40. Bella Larson (Fairmont) 29.26.

4×400: 1. Onalaska 4:09.13; 7. Fairmont (Harper Artz, Emelia Klanderud, Abbie Simpson, Corene Moeller) 4:27.76.

Shot Put: 1. Elli Heisinger (Spencer) 38-5 3/4; 16. Alexa Bush (Fairmont) 31-0.

Long Jump: 1. Hattie Anderson (Minneapolis Washburn) 18-0 1/4; 12. Jazlyn Geerdes (Fairmont) 14-5.

Triple Jump: 1. Ava Washburn (Webster) 36-9 1/2; 9. Jazlyn Geerdes (Fairmont) 32-5.

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Boys Division (18 Events)

Final Standings (26 teams): 1. Stillwater Area 87; 2. Onalaska 48; 3. Spencer 42; 4. White Bear Lake 31.5; 5. Lawton-Bronson 31; 6. Cambridge-Isanti 28; 7. Princeton 27; T8. Edina and Mankato West 26 each; T10. Fairmont and Robbinsdale Armstrong 23 each.

Individual Champion &

Fairmont Results

Shot Put: 1. Hank Artz (Fairmont) 48-9 3/4; 2. Sawyer Tordsen (Fairmont) 47-10 1/4.

High Jump: 1. Dominick Ricci (Webster) 6-4; Trey Tumbleson (Fairmont) no height made.

Long Jump: 1. Seth Johnson (Stillwater) 20-10; 12. Trey Tumbleson (Fairmont) 18-1 3/4.

1,600: 1. Nolan Sutter (Chaska) 4:27.74; 17. Gavin Artner (Fairmont) 4:52.56.

400: 1. Theo Moseman (Lawton-Bronson) 50.95; 16. Blaze Geiger (Fairmont) 55.43; 18. Taylor Austin (Fairmont) 55.79.

4×200: 1. Onalaska 1:33.06; 8. Fairmont (Trey Tumbleson, Gage Borntrager, Caleb Chambers, Nolan Schultze) 1:39.12.

200: 1. Caleb Anderson (White Bear Lake) 22.85; 15. Trey Tumbleson (Fairmont) 24.8; 17. Caleb Chambers (Fairmont) 24.91; 24. Gage Borntrager (Fairmont) 25.11; 25. Nolan Schultze (Fairmont) 25.17; 32. Blaze Geiger (Fairmont 25.71.

3,200: 1. Aidan Jones (Minneapolis Washburn) 9:30.16; 9. Gavin Artner (Fairmont) 10:55.25.

4×400: 1. Onalaska 3:35.34; 8. Fairmont (Nolan Schultze, Caleb Chambers, Taylor Austin, Blaze Geiger) 3:45.17.

60-Meter Wheelchair: 1. Nelson Remington (Fairmont) 13.96; 2. Devin Filzen (Winona) 14.58.

200-Meter Wheelchair: 1. Devin Filzen (Winona) 38.32; 2. Nelson Remington (Fairmont) 39.03.